What can we do to help?

Explain the Appeals procedure, the grounds for appealing and the deadlines.

Advise you on how to complete the forms and provide guidance on what supporting documentary evidence could strengthen your case.

Offer feedback and comment on the completed form prior to submission.

Advise you of the possible outcomes and the implications for your progression.

If you are granted an Appeal Hearing and an Adviser is available you can request that they attend the meeting with you.

We might refer you to any other Support Services as necessary.

How can you contact us for advice?

Email: You can email your query to us at suadvice@leedsbeckett.ac.uk and an Adviser will get back to you. Please try to give as much information as possible relating to your query when you email us.

Drop In to speak to an Adviser: You can call in to see an Adviser during our drop in hours either at City or Headingley Campus. You can find our drop in times here.

Phone to speak to an Adviser: If we have no Advisers available to take your call our reception will take some details from you and pass your information on to us and we will get back in contact with you. If we are unable to get through to you on the phone we will send you an email to let you know we have been unable to get through. If you have provided reception with details relating to your query, we can also send you information that might help. Our number will come up as withheld so keep this in mind when you are waiting for a call back.

Book an Appointment with an Adviser: We have a number of appointments throughout the week at both City and Headingley Campus’ you just need to call 0113 812 8400 and ask to book an appointment with an Adviser and reception will be able to see if there are any at a time that suits you. If not, then they will recommend one of the other ways of contacting us.

Case Study

The student’s problem:

A student contacted our service for advice as their summer exam board had determined that they had not met the requirements to pass onto the next level of the course. The student would have to repeat two failed module in a standalone year, resulting in them needing to study for another year as well as accessing an additional tuition fee loan and maintenance loan for the period they would be repeating.

The student had been suffering from mental health problems at the time of the re-assessments they had missed, but had only come to realise the severity of their issues afterwards once they were able to seek the help and support of their GP and community mental health team.

Advice given:

A Student Adviser advised the student on the University’s progression regulations and why the exam board had made the decision they had. They then talked to them about what was going on at the time of the assessments to establish whether they might have valid grounds to submit an academic appeal to review the exam board’s decision.

The Adviser advised the student to submit an appeal to review the exam board’s decision on the ground of ‘previously undisclosed extenuating circumstances’. The adviser talked the student through the appeals procedure and timescales involved, how to fill out the appeal request form, what kind of supporting evidence they would need to provide, and what would happen after the appeal had been considered by the University.

The student adviser gave the student feedback on their appeal and supporting evidence before they submitted it to the University.

The outcome:

After considering the appeal the University contacted the student to let them know the outcome. Due to the severity of the student’s circumstances, and being satisfied with the reasons that the student had given for not being able to present mitigation to the University at the time, the University was able to offer the student an informal resolution to their appeal and offered the student the opportunity to drop one failed 20 credit module (as outlined in the progression regulations) and carry forward one failed module into the next academic year.

This resulted in the student being able to progress onto the final year of their course without having to access any additional student funding.